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Mniopetalum minutum sp.nov. (Tricholomataceae) from South India
Notes and brief articles MNIOPETALUM MINUTUM SP.NOV. (TRICHOLOMATACEAE) FROM SOUTH INDIA BY P. MANIMOHAN AND K. M. LEELAVATHY
Mycology Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calicut, Kerala 673 635, India
Mniopetalum minutum sp.nov. is described from South India and compared with the only other Asian species. During the monsoon rains of 1985, an agaric belonging to the genus Mniopetalum Donk & Singer ex Donk was collected from Kerala State, India. As none of the existing species was judged appropriate to accommodate it, we are proposing here a new species. Mniopetalurn rninuturn sp.nov. (Fig. 1 A-C) Basidiocarpus parvulus, delicatus, albidus, diaphanus, sessilis; pileus 1-3 mm latus, cupulatus, membranaceus. Lamellae nullae. Stipes nullus. Caro tenuissima, non-gelatinosa; hyphae inamyloideae, fibulatae. Odor saporque nullus. Sporae 7-8 x 5-6 pm, pyriforrnes, tenuitunicatae, hyalinae, laeves, inamyloideae. Basidia 15-23 x 7-8 11m, clavata, bi- vel tetrasporigera. Cystidia nulla. Cuticula pilei e hyphis filamentosis efformata.
Basidiocarp minute, delicate, translucent, white, dorsally attached, sessile. Pileus 1-3 mm broad, orbicular, cupulate, membranous; surface slightly adpressed-hairy, moist, margin entire, regular. Hymenophore smooth, lacking lamellae, folds or ridges. Stipe absent. Odour and taste none. Spores 7-8 x 5-6 I'll, pyriform, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, inamyloid. Basidia 15-23 x 7-8 I'll, clavate, thin-walled, hyaline, often with basal clampconnexions, 2- or 4-spored; sterigma up to 5 I'm long. Cystidia absent. Context thin, non-gelatinized, inamyloid; hyphae 2-6 I'll diam, inflating to 12 I'll diam, hyaline, thin-walled. Pileal surface mostly undifferentiated, with bundles of semierect hyphae in some areas; hyphae 3-6 I'll diam, hyaline, thin-walled. All hyphae with clampconnexions. Specimens examined: India, Kerala State, Calicut University Campus, Botanical Garden, at 50 m alt., on wet bark of a jackfruit tree, amongst moss and algae, 17 Aug. 1985, P. Manimohan, M337 (K, holotype).
The fungus appeared in groups confined to the water-flow marks on the tree trunk during days of continuous rains of the south-west monsoon. Mniopetalum minutum is a lowland species charac-
Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 90 (1), (1988)
c
10 lIm
Fig. 1. Mniopetalum minutum, (A) Habit x 5; (B) spores; (C) basidia. terized by the minute, pigmentless, dorsally attached, sessile, cupulate basidiocarps growing on tree trunks amongst moss, with a smooth hyrnenophore, undifferentiated pileal surface, pyriform spores and the fairly small basidia. This combination makes it distinct from other described species. Mniopetalum furfuraceum (Petch) Pegler, the only other south-east Asian species, is a terricolous, pleuropodal species, reaching up to 25 x 15 mm, with somewhat well-developed lamellae and smaller, ellipsoid spores, and according to Corner (1966) it is restricted to higher altitudes. We thank Dr D. N. Pegler for kindly reading the manuscript. One of us (P.M.) acknowledges financial assistance from CSIR, New Delhi.
REFERENCE
CORNER, E. J. H. (1966). A monograph of cantharelloid fungi. Annals of Botany Memoirs 2, 1-255·
Printed in Great Britain
Mycology Research Laboratory, Department of Botany, University of Calicut, Kerala 673 635, India
Mniopetalum minutum sp.nov. is described from South India and compared with the only other Asian species. During the monsoon rains of 1985, an agaric belonging to the genus Mniopetalum Donk & Singer ex Donk was collected from Kerala State, India. As none of the existing species was judged appropriate to accommodate it, we are proposing here a new species. Mniopetalurn rninuturn sp.nov. (Fig. 1 A-C) Basidiocarpus parvulus, delicatus, albidus, diaphanus, sessilis; pileus 1-3 mm latus, cupulatus, membranaceus. Lamellae nullae. Stipes nullus. Caro tenuissima, non-gelatinosa; hyphae inamyloideae, fibulatae. Odor saporque nullus. Sporae 7-8 x 5-6 pm, pyriforrnes, tenuitunicatae, hyalinae, laeves, inamyloideae. Basidia 15-23 x 7-8 11m, clavata, bi- vel tetrasporigera. Cystidia nulla. Cuticula pilei e hyphis filamentosis efformata.
Basidiocarp minute, delicate, translucent, white, dorsally attached, sessile. Pileus 1-3 mm broad, orbicular, cupulate, membranous; surface slightly adpressed-hairy, moist, margin entire, regular. Hymenophore smooth, lacking lamellae, folds or ridges. Stipe absent. Odour and taste none. Spores 7-8 x 5-6 I'll, pyriform, hyaline, thin-walled, smooth, inamyloid. Basidia 15-23 x 7-8 I'll, clavate, thin-walled, hyaline, often with basal clampconnexions, 2- or 4-spored; sterigma up to 5 I'm long. Cystidia absent. Context thin, non-gelatinized, inamyloid; hyphae 2-6 I'll diam, inflating to 12 I'll diam, hyaline, thin-walled. Pileal surface mostly undifferentiated, with bundles of semierect hyphae in some areas; hyphae 3-6 I'll diam, hyaline, thin-walled. All hyphae with clampconnexions. Specimens examined: India, Kerala State, Calicut University Campus, Botanical Garden, at 50 m alt., on wet bark of a jackfruit tree, amongst moss and algae, 17 Aug. 1985, P. Manimohan, M337 (K, holotype).
The fungus appeared in groups confined to the water-flow marks on the tree trunk during days of continuous rains of the south-west monsoon. Mniopetalum minutum is a lowland species charac-
Trans. Br. mycol. Soc. 90 (1), (1988)
c
10 lIm
Fig. 1. Mniopetalum minutum, (A) Habit x 5; (B) spores; (C) basidia. terized by the minute, pigmentless, dorsally attached, sessile, cupulate basidiocarps growing on tree trunks amongst moss, with a smooth hyrnenophore, undifferentiated pileal surface, pyriform spores and the fairly small basidia. This combination makes it distinct from other described species. Mniopetalum furfuraceum (Petch) Pegler, the only other south-east Asian species, is a terricolous, pleuropodal species, reaching up to 25 x 15 mm, with somewhat well-developed lamellae and smaller, ellipsoid spores, and according to Corner (1966) it is restricted to higher altitudes. We thank Dr D. N. Pegler for kindly reading the manuscript. One of us (P.M.) acknowledges financial assistance from CSIR, New Delhi.
REFERENCE
CORNER, E. J. H. (1966). A monograph of cantharelloid fungi. Annals of Botany Memoirs 2, 1-255·
Printed in Great Britain